About Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews. In 1999 he described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". Wilson's goal was "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything." In addition to writing several science-fiction novels, Wilson also wrote non-fiction books on extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs, and what Wilson called "quantum psychology". Following a career in journalism and as an editor, notably for Playboy, Wilson emerged as a countercultural figure in the mid-1970s, alongside one of his coauthors, Timothy Leary, as well as Terence McKenna. After having smoked cannabis for nearly a decade, Wilson first experimented with mescaline in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on December 28, 1961. Most of his later fiction contains cross-over characters from The Sex Magicians (Wilson's first novel, written before the release of Illuminatus!, which includes many of his same characters) and The Illuminatus!
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.